Patient safety: how can temperature-sensitive treatments be protected throughout the care pathway?

On the occasion of World Patient Safety Day 2026, the World Health Organization is placing safe care for noncommunicable diseases at the heart of its campaign.*

For healthcare services, this issue extends across the entire patient pathway. The safety of a temperature-sensitive treatment depends on compliance with its transport and storage requirements through to its point of use.

Why is the cold chain an integral part of patient safety?

Every medicine is subject to specific storage conditions defined on the basis of its stability data.

Some medicines must be stored between +2°C and +8°C. Exposure to an unsuitable temperature may affect their stability or efficacy. Freezing can also damage certain products. Providing more cooling does not therefore necessarily offer greater protection.

Transport is a critical stage involving multiple parameters that must be controlled. External heat, direct sunlight, unexpected delays or longer-than-planned journeys may alter the expected transport conditions.

For medicines normally stored in a refrigerator, the French National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products (ANSM) recommends using refrigerated insulated packaging. It also states that the product must not be allowed to freeze and that the storage conditions specified in the package leaflet must be observed.**

Thermal control therefore relies on measurable parameters that require effective monitoring: temperature range, transport duration, usable volume and conditions of use. Compliance with the required storage range must be demonstrated through thermal performance assessed under defined operating conditions.

What do healthcare services need?

Healthcare professionals must be able to select a solution suited to both the product and the actual journey. A transport operation lasting a few minutes does not involve the same constraints as a home-care round or a journey lasting several hours.

An appropriate solution should combine:

• assessed thermal performance;
• a performance duration compatible with the journey;
• protection against both heat exposure and freezing;
• a capacity suited to the products being transported;
• a simple and repeatable preparation process.

Clear patient guidance is also essential. Patients must understand how long the solution can be used, which precautions must be followed and what action to take if an unexpected event occurs.

Ensuring continuity involves more than supplying packaging. It requires a qualified solution, a clearly defined procedure and effective coordination between all stakeholders.

Which solutions can help secure the last mile?

Sofrigam offers two complementary solutions for transporting temperature-sensitive healthcare products.

The IGLOO insulated pouch is designed for small volumes and very short journeys. It is suitable for transporting certain insulins, vaccines and other medicines that require controlled-temperature conditions.

Compact and reusable, it can be used for hospital pharmacy dispensing to outpatients, patient journeys, home-care rounds and small-volume hospital flows.

The IGLOO pouch holds the CERTICOLD PHARMA label and is tested in accordance with the NF S99-700 standard. Under its qualified conditions of use, it maintains a temperature between +2°C and +8°C for one hour.

The INITIAL COOL SKIN backpack is designed for extended mobility requirements. Its refrigerated insulated compartment is intended for transporting insulin, vaccines and certain injectable treatments.

Cool Skin technology distributes cooling around the products through the specific positioning of eutectic gel packs. Under qualified conditions, it maintains a temperature between +2°C and +8°C for up to 12 hours. The compartment offers a usable capacity of up to 10 litres. The solution is tested in accordance with the NF S99-700 standard and can be qualified for UN3373 applications, depending on the intended use.

These two solutions address different operational requirements.

Their selection must take into account the medicine, the volume transported, the journey duration and the external conditions.

This requirement is becoming increasingly important as hospital-at-home care continues to expand.

In 2025, hospital-at-home services cared for 201,403 patients in France, representing an increase of 9.6% in one year. This activity accounted for more than 8.1 million hospital-at-home days.***

As care moves closer to patients’ homes, stronger coordination is required between healthcare facilities, pharmacies, community healthcare professionals and patients. Transport control is therefore becoming a central component of therapeutic continuity.

As care moves closer to the patient’s home, the cold chain must maintain the same level of rigour as the hospital care pathway.

An uninterrupted care pathway, with 100% commitment to high standards. Sofrigam secures the cold chain from the first mile to the last.

THERMODYNAMICS FOR LIFE

* Source: World Health Organization, World Patient Safety Day 2026 – “Safe care for life!”, September 2026.

** Source: French National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products (ANSM), Transport and Storage of Medicines, 26 May 2026.

*** Source: French Agency for Information on Hospital Care (ATIH), 2025 Hospital Activity Analysis – Hospital-at-Home Care, July 2026.